I've had a droid for two months now and love it. It's surprising how much I use it for answering any question that comes to mind; I just google it on the spot..

anyhow...

I have a tween(12 year old) daughter that lives away from me, in a somewhat remote area and without internet at her home. Today I added an additional line to my service and ordered a Droid to send to her. She will have GPS if she ever gets lost, internet access, test messaging, camera and more in a phone that she can carry on her at all times. I feel this will allow her to communicate more with me, our family, and her frends.

I am wondering how best to set up the Droid before mailing it to her at her mothers house.

any help on setting up or locking certain features/apps and whatnot is greatly appreciated.

i dont really think there's anything really bad except it is like like a little laptop so as long as you enforce the same rules as you do as on a computer im sure there wont be any problems. also i think you can call verizon and they can set a timer for when someone is able to text, call, things of that nature. good luck :]

I would also recommend the app mobile defense. Its free on the market. You link it to the phone through their website and you can remotely activate the gps if its lost or stolen or want the check in on her plus many other features. Fantastic app I would recommend for yourself as well.

i dont really think there's anything really bad except it is like like a little laptop so as long as you enforce the same rules as you do as on a computer im sure there wont be any problems. also i think you can call verizon and they can set a timer for when someone is able to text, call, things of that nature. good luck :]

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Parental controls (timers, blocked numbers ect.) call all be done online via the account control panel.
OP make sure you take your card off of your Google Checkout (if you have one) so she's not d/l and charging a TON of apps.

:icon_ banana::icon_ banana: +1... and people wonder why our country is so screwed up...

I would set it up with a case, 12 year olds can be quite clumsy so be sure to get insurance. I don't know how tech savy your daughter is but if she really isn't you should probably tell her the basics as well as things like how to change the wallpaper or whatever. Think like a girl, facebook on the home screen and myspace. Although I have no idea whether myspace has a app. Put a picture of her favorite whatever as the wallpaper. See: Jonas brothers, Twilight, Carson Daley. Add bookmarks on the browser to her favorite sites like myspace or facebook and this site, just in case she needs help. Remind her that as easily as she got this phone it can easily be taken back.

I bet this turns into a situation with the best intentions, but turns sour for obvious reasons. You can set it up however you like, but I really doubt there are many 12 year olds with the patience and know-how to figure out a phone like the Droid. In the end I bet she gets frustrated and stops using it.

I have a tween(12 year old) daughter that lives away from me, in a somewhat remote area and without internet at her home. Today I added an additional line to my service and ordered a Droid to send to her. She will have GPS if she ever gets lost, internet access, test messaging, camera and more in a phone that she can carry on her at all times. I feel this will allow her to communicate more with me, our family, and her frends.

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Any cheap phone will allow her to do all of those with the exception of the "get[ing] lost" issue. But there is an AMAZING feature on EVERY phone called '911.' It's really amazing it's to bad more people don't know about it. If your daughter gets lost she can call it (which is VERY SIMPLE, she just press "9" then "1" then "1" again and hit's the 'Send' button) and it will connect her to the local authorities which will then be able to get her location and come get her. It will be a LOT safer for her than walking around aimlessly trying to follow the GPS directions... Unless you want your 12 year old daughter to just be lost and walking around aimlessly following a GPS which (in a 'remote area' as you put it) will be less than helpful.

Thanks for the suggestions so far. I will look more deeply into verizons online control features. I'll look into moiile defense and similar apps, it sounds like a good feature to have if the phone was ever lost or misplaced

myspace is a no-no in my book... I might possibly set her up a facebook page for family, but I think she is still a little to young for that. she is somewhat tech savy for her age. she uses computers one or two days a week in school, and she has been using my computers for the last 6 or so years that she spends time with me. I'm sure she will pocket dial many times, and close windows accidently by hitting the menu keys near the screen, but she will get use to preventing that..lol

I will definitely look into buying her a case.

thanks to those who understand the situation. The phone should be here tuesday, so I will have one day to set it up and mail it to her before I go out of town for a few months.

Funny, I don't remember the OP asking for opinions about raising his daughter, just about setting the phone up.
My kids, 10 & 11, have had phones for 2 years. Originally got them so I could let them run around the neighborhood like we all did as kids with less worry. (Them having phones actually prevented a kidnapping last summer.)
Given that you aren't going top be there to help with the problems that will arise, I'd make sure you know everything you put on the. Try to create app conflicts if possible, so you can make sure they don't happen to her. (Things like that happening really irritate my daughter.
Like was previously stated, you need insurance, a case, and Mobile Defense. Chances of a phone like the Droid getting stolen are pretty good, add in a bunch of kids, and...
Maybe hook her up with some bluetooth headphones as well.

Funny, I don't remember the OP asking for opinions about raising his daughter, just about setting the phone up.
My kids, 10 & 11, have had phones for 2 years. Originally got them so I could let them run around the neighborhood like we all did as kids with less worry. (Them having phones actually prevented a kidnapping last summer.)
Given that you aren't going top be there to help with the problems that will arise, I'd make sure you know everything you put on the. Try to create app conflicts if possible, so you can make sure they don't happen to her. (Things like that happening really irritate my daughter.
Like was previously stated, you need insurance, a case, and Mobile Defense. Chances of a phone like the Droid getting stolen are pretty good, add in a bunch of kids, and...
Maybe hook her up with some bluetooth headphones as well.